This is MSNBC so take with appropriate grains of salt. Not living in Houston though this is a story I haven't heard of or followed but want to hear from people who live there are about it. According to this report Republicans on Harris Country Judges are boycotting the county commission causing the budget to be frozen at last year's levels. That means that funding for things like flood control and police budgets are on hold costing millions. They cite the Houston Chronicle, which I'm not subscribed to as the source.
If the budget is frozen how does it cost millions? does it mean save millions? Or cost the cops millions?
My guess would be that the next year's budget increases the funding but the fiscal year has already started so current costs are not being met by the previous years budget. As I said though this is the first I'm hearing of the story so would like to hear more about it.
For the past six weeks, Republican Harris County commissioners Jack Cagle and Tom Ramsey have been engaged in something of a high-stakes poker match with hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in the pot. They have, in effect, defunded not just police but flood control projects and public hospitals. Why would they go this far? Since first skipping the Sept. 13 session of Commissioners Court and blocking new tax rates from going in effect to pass the proposed $2.24 billion county budget, Cagle and Ramsey gambled that they could either force their Democratic counterparts to adopt lower tax rates or force them to make painful budget cuts. The three Democrats on Commissioners Court — Commissioners Rodney Ellis and Adrian Garcia, and County Judge Lina Hidalgo — figured Cagle and Ramsey as novice bluffers. Why, after all, would Cagle — who is locked in a competitive reelection fight with Democrat Lesley Briones — risk his political future by needlessly obstructing a budget that included two of his stated priorities: a property tax cut and across-the-board boosts in law enforcement funding? Evidently, Cagle and Ramsey were comfortable going all in on that weak hand. By declining to show up to Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting — the final one scheduled before the Oct. 28 deadline to adopt new tax rates — the county will default to the “no new revenue rate,” which freezes the amount of property tax revenue the county collects at the same levels as the previous fiscal year. While the county would still produce about $45 million more than last year because of newly developed property on the tax rolls, that’s more than $200 million less than the revenue generated by the tax rate proposed by the Democratic majority. Those additional monies would help the county offset the cost of living increases brought on by soaring inflation rates. Simply put, last year’s budget doesn’t stretch as far as it did in 2021. “By ‘voting with our feet,’ Commissioner Tom S. Ramsey and I were able to stop the $257 million tax increase favored by the court majority,” Cagle said in a statement. “Now would be a good time for county government to reassess the recent spending increases that have led to so many new and unneeded county agencies run by overpaid bureaucrats. Instead, we can return to a fiscally sound system of providing the basic services that taxpayers expect — public safety, flood protection, parks and constituent service.”
In reality, Cagle and Ramsey’s stunt will likely result in excruciating cuts to many of the essential county services they claim to support. The budget for Harris Health System, one of the largest indigent health care systems in the nation, will drop from $957 million to $822 million. The system will be operating at a $45 million deficit, and may have to slash critical outpatient services such as dialysis treatments. The Harris County Flood Control District will lose $23 million and its backlog of deferred maintenance projects on critical public infrastructure such as outfalls, pipelines or even bridges will increase. Cuts to the Elections Administrator budget will mean fewer vote centers for the early voting period and Election Day, as well as longer wait times to process election results. Most inexplicably, the “no new revenue” budget means defunding law enforcement. The Sheriff’s office will lose $16.6 million for patrol and administration, including 8.25 percent raises for frontline deputies. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office will lose out on a $5.4 million budget increase. The eight county constables will lose a combined $8.1 million. At a time when many Republicans in Harris County — most notably county judge candidate Alexandra del Moral Mealer — are running on bringing down crime rates and hiring more than 1,000 additional police officers, Cagle and Ramsey are content to use our county’s safety as a bargaining chip. They are gambling that if Republicans capture a majority on Commissioners Court, they will come away with two victories: lower property tax rates as a result of their no-show; and the ability to rewrite the smaller budget to their liking. Of course, if recent public polls are any indicator — a University of Houston surveyshows Hidalgo and Mealer in dead heat — that’s akin to Ramsey and Cagle putting the future of the county budget on red at the roulette table: there’s an equal chance they will be left with absolutely nothing. If Hidalgo and Briones win, all that Cagle and Ramsey will have accomplished is giving a larger Democratic majority the smaller budget to work with to enact their priorities. Anything Ramsey — the lone Republican left on Commissioners Court if Republicans lose — wants will likely be an afterthought. Perhaps there was no scenario in which a budget compromise could have been reached. Tensions have been mounting in Commissioners Court since the Democrats took over, and boiled over when Ellis, Garcia, and Hidalgo redrew county precinct lines to benefit themselves at the expense of their Republican colleagues. The lack of trust was evident when Cagle and Garcia offered middle-ground tax rate proposals last week — Cagle’s proposed property tax rate was 1.2 cents lower than Garcia’s — and both were set to be discussed during the Oct. 18 Commissioners Court meeting. Yet Cagle and Ramsey clearly didn’t trust that the Democrats were negotiating in good faith. They believed the tax rate item on the agenda — which suspiciously included language of “possible action” on what was supposed to be a “discussion-only” proposal — were a ploy to get them to show up in person so the majority could declare a quorum and vote on their preferred tax rate. This kind of paranoid, dysfunctional way of doing business is no way to run a county government. No matter what the eventual county budget looks like, nobody will come out of this mess looking clean. The days of bipartisan cooperation might well be over, and Commissioners Court will more closely mirror the tribalist bickering we’ve grown accustomed to in Washington. By refusing to compromise, and ensuring that everybody gets some of what they want, they have guaranteed Harris County residents will get less of what they need. The only silver lining here is the timing: the early voting period started on Monday. For the thousands of Harris County voters who have yet to cast their ballot, keep this budget fiasco in mind when deciding which candidate gets to gamble with their money. Choose your horse wisely. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/op...l-Harris-County-Republicans-just-17534501.php
These ****ers didn’t do their duty and circumvented the democratic process. At the very least they should be impeached and removed from office. The loophole should also be closed. They also had the gall to campaign on ‘saving the taxpayers money’ with this stunt.
While I didn't appreciate the stunt, denying quorum is a parliamentary trick that's been used by the minority for a long time and it has a place. You'll recall Texas democrats did this over the bill to change voting rules forcing Abbott to call a couple special sessions. It won't hurt their election chances, so I think they are implicitly expressing the will of their own constituencies. Compromises might have been possible; retributions are still possible. That is the sausage making of democracy.
Yes I should've checked the thread. Not being in Houston though I don't usually see much news about Lina Hidalgo so don't check that one. Admit the headline on this got my attention.
I was thinking that didn't TX Democrats do something similar in the Legislature. WI Democrats tried that too and the WI Legislature changed their quorum rules.
Yes, and continue the same budget. But that's cutting off your nose to spite your face. But Cagle and Ramsey will probably win in gerrymandered districts... not sure if Ramsey is up for reelection this year. And Garcia and Ellis win their districts too. Mealer will probably win, but I wouldn't be shocked if Hidalgo holds on. So yeah, cutting off noses to spite faces has little political ramifications and mainly hurts harris county residents.
Bruh I BEEN HAD been crying about it on here for weeks. GOP defunds the police and police show up to boo the Democrat. Because that's all it takes to fool a huge number of low IQ Texans. GOOD LUCK
They don't give a damn about police. If they did, then they wouldn't ignore their cries to stop loosening gun laws. Those gun lobbyists control the GOP.
